


The Silent Death

by songofsunset



Category: Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2013-05-05
Packaged: 2017-12-10 11:08:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/785373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songofsunset/pseuds/songofsunset
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nita died in the Song of the Twelve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Nita died in the Song of the Twelve.

Kit knows that it was her choice.

He also knows that it was probably the right thing to do.

But that doesn’t change the most important thing-

Nita died in the Song of the Twelve.

~

He staggered out of the water, the whalesark drifting behind him like a shroud. Nita’s parents were there, waiting. The concern on her mother’s face settled somewhere in Kit’s gut, next to everything else that had happened in the past day. 

Nita’s mother draped a towel around his shoulders. 

Nita’s father cleared his throat. “Is- is she on her way?”

Kit shook his head.

Nita’s father clutched the towel he was holding a little tighter, and turned away. 

They walked back up to the house. 

~

They didn’t know what to tell the school, the government, the authorities.

Kit called Tom and Carl. They already knew what had happened. This wasn’t the first time they had dealt with something like this. Kit wondered if it had ever gotten easier.

“Tell them she was lost at sea. Tell them you couldn’t save her.”

“That’s the truth.” 

“You know as well as we do, Kit, the truth is important. Don’t diminish her sacrifice by covering it in lies. They will hear what they want to hear. And we will all be better for it”

~

Kit’s family seemed unsure how to treat him. His parent’s tiptoed around him, and Helena came to him with unwanted sympathies. It was Carmela who treated him like he wasn’t broken, who let him pretend that it was still true. She seemed to think there was more to what had happened than Nita getting dragged down by the undertow, but she was biding her time. 

Kit was willing to put off that discussion until later.

~

He attended Nita’s funeral, at the baptist church down the road. His suit was stiff and scratchy. Kit figured that was about how it should be. 

The scent of flowers seemed cloying. 

He didn’t cry. 

Not during the funeral (there was no casket), and not during the memorial service that was held by the wizards, both from the land and from the sea, in Nita’s honor. 

~

That night, Kit dreamt of timeheart. And someone who was waiting for him there.


	2. Chapter 2

Kit gets a message through his manual from a woman in Ireland who claims to be Nita’s aunt. She heard about Nita when the information became public to whatever the Irish equivalent of a manual is.

“Do her parents know she was a wizard? Do they know why she died?”

Kit tells her that they did, at the end.

She is in town and making her brother tea the next day. 

She didn’t take a plane.  
~

School starts.

Nita is not there.

Kit doesn’t want to think about it.

His grades suffer.

~

Dairine stays in her room, reading stories about death and redemption. She finds Nita’s manual, and keeps it for her own.

She doesn’t take the oath.

Not yet.

~

Kit has not been on Active status since the Twelvesong. He doesn’t particularly care if he ever is again.

He thinks about giving up wizardry, late at night, when the world is so dark that the darkness seems comforting.

Ponch sits with him.

Outside, there is howling.

~

The school sends Kit in for counseling with a man named Millman, What good can it do, Kit wonders, talking with someone who doesn’t know the truth of what happened?

When the “Robert” Carl references him to turns out to be the same man, Kit can only shake his head and think that there are no coincidences.

~

Before she leaves, Nita’s aunt tracks Kit down. She leaves him with her address, a cup of tea, and a reminder that he is not alone.

~

Kit takes Dairine to the moon that night. The joy of the view seems sharp and cold. But the earth is still there, still whole, and Kit reminds himself that this is why, this is why she is gone, and she thought it was worth it.

He tells himself that he thinks it was worth it too.

It is almost not a lie.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on tumblr a bit back, but this seems like a better place to organize it. This is my first uploaded fic, so please let me know if there are any problems :)


End file.
